Star Tribune: “Hundreds of recent drunken-driving arrests in Minnesota may be tainted because of a flaw in the breath-test device that is replacing one tangled up in a court challenge over its reliability.”

First African-American crowned Miss North Dakota

Forum of Fargo Moorhead: “And to think, she almost didn’t enter the competition.Rosemary Sauvageau was ready to throw in the towel after finishing as second runner-up in 2010 and first runner-up in 2011 in the Miss North Dakota pageant. But her mother convinced her to give it one last shot this year.”

Obama tests “likability”

Politico: “The polls agree: President Barack Obama is likable. The question is whether he’s likable enough to get reelected.”

Heroin making an aggressive comeback in Central Minnesota

St Cloud Times: “Heroin, which used to frighten off young people because of its stigma as a counter-culture drug that involved sharing needles, has made an aggressive comeback that has local investigators scrambling. There have been five overdoses resulting in two deaths in the last month and a half in the St. Cloud metro area, four deaths in Mille Lacs County, two more in Sherburne County since the first of the year and at least one each in Wright and Morrison counties since Jan. 1.”

Kmart ends its run in New Ulm

New Ulm Journal: “A closing business sale followed with discounts on merchandise. By Sunday’s closing, the majority of the display racks stood empty like tree branches in winter. The store’s floor was mostly empty because most of the shelving had been sold.” New Ulm Journal: “Until the final hour when the New Ulm Kmart locked its doors for good, New Ulm resident Marge Hames kept up her 79-day effort to show the store’s employees how much they meant to her.”

St Cloud Times: “Kay Wolsborn, a political-science professor at College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, says there’s no clear answer on who benefits from this year’s head-to-head matchup in the 6th District. Wolsborn said the three-term Bachmann, a former presidential candidate and national tea party star, isn’t likely to be a voter’s second choice. Most will support or oppose her strongly, Wolsborn said. But Wolsborn added that Graves is clearly the underdog in the campaign. After this year’s redistricting, most observers agree the 6th District — already Minnesota’s most conservative — became even more GOP-friendly.”

Poll: Klobuchar cruising, Franken too

PPP: “Amy Klobuchar’s job approval ratings are not quite as lofty as when PPP last polled Minnesota in January, but still almost twice as many of her constituents like their freshman senator as dislike the work she is doing.”

Searchers are looking for a missing pilot and plane near Duluth

Duluth News Tribune: “The Civil Air Patrol says the twin-engine Piper — described as a white twin engine Piper PA-31 Navajo with red and blue striping — with one person on board was reported to be on a flight from Fleming Field in South St. Paul to the Duluth airport and back to St. Paul on Friday.”

An old brew gets a fresh spin in New Ulm

Star Tribune: “The home of ‘Hermann the German’ wants to attract a younger, more affluent cast of tourists. Schell’s, the state’s oldest brewery, is looking for a similar demographic to buy Schell’s products beyond the brewer’s traditional southern Minnesota base.”

Duluthian creates app to attract fish with underwater sounds

Duluth News Tribune: “Greg Bambenek remembers as a kid going out on the Mississippi River with his dad, putting out set lines for flathead catfish. In a rowboat, the two would set out 50 baits, all suspended from one long cord. When the last one was baited and dropped, Bambenek’s dad, a commercial fisherman, would always whack the water with a paddle.”